AIVI recap, The Auditions/Hollywood/Final 24

AIVI recap, The Auditions/Hollywood/Final 24

Hey there. Long time, no write. I’ve seen all of the auditions and the Hollywood segment now and I’m all caught up. There have been 10 shows already (7 audition cities, 1 best/worst and 2 Hollywoods). I’ll do my best to jot down what I remember or what stood out in my mind. I will miss some stuff, so if you want to reply back with your thoughts, I’m good with that.

Some housekeeping stuff. I won’t be able to recap the first two weeks of the semi-finalists (when they pare the 12 guys and 12 girls down to 8 guys and 8 girls). The third week is when they chop 2 more guys and 2 more girls to make it a final 12 of 6 guys and 6 girls. I’ll be down at Disneyland for the first week, then in Chicago for training the second week.

But have no fear, I have a back up plan. During my “Poor me, I don’t know if I can do this anymore” phase at the end of last season (although it was a real thing because our daughter was having trouble sleeping and the nights were getting long for me to pump these things out) I had a good buddy offer to fill in if I needed a break. You will be in the able hands of Mike Rico, a friend of mine from home (Watsonville). His resume for writing is distinguished, as he is the editor of “The Fantasy Green,” our newsletter for the Cal-Neva Fantasy Football League and was the former editor of the Catz Tales, Watsonville High School’s locally unrenown paper. I fear that you may be clamoring for more Mike and less Jason, but it’s a risk I’ll take. Thanks Mike for helping out.

So on to the 24 semi-finalists. Here are the bios that Idol Chatter posted recently.

The Top 12 male singers will perform Tuesday (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on Fox.

Rudy Cardenas (28) – Currently lives in North Hollywood, CA, but grew up in Denver, CO. Cardenas was born in Venezuela and has a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Northern Colorado.

Jared Cotter (25) – Grew up in Kew Gardens, NY, and currently lives in West Orange, NJ. He has a degree in business management from Five Towns College, Long Island.

Sundance Head (28) – Currently lives in Porter, TX, and is the son of Roy Head (who had a No. 1 song in 1965, “Treat Her Right”). (No. 2, actually, according to Billboard, anyway. But why quibble with a digit when you can improve a human interest story for a singer who's going to need it?) His life has been centered around music and he can play five instruments.

Paul Kim (25) – Currently lives in Saratoga, CA, and is working as a pool maintenance technician. He grew up with a love of soul music and enjoys gardening.

Blake Lewis (25) – Currently lives in Bothell, WA, and began “beat boxing” in his senior year of high school. Lewis was a member of a youth choir group that traveled to Europe.

Sanjaya Malakar (17) – Currently lives in Federal Way, WA, and comes from a family of singers. He spent four years in Hawaii performing with the Hawaii Children's Theater.

Chris Richardson (22) – Currently lives in Chesapeake, VA, and is a supervisor at a restaurant. He was born in Belgium into a military family and performs at local clubs.

Nick Pedro (25) – Currently lives in Taunton, MA, and made it to Hollywood last season. Pedro has performed at talent shows and is an account executive.

Brandon Rogers (29) – From North Hollywood, CA, but spent six years in Dallas. Rogers has been singing for as long as he can remember. He works as a voice coach, wedding singer and background singer. His mother is a published songwriter.

Phil Stacey (29) – Currently lives in Jacksonville, FL; however, he grew up in Cincinnati. Stacey has a degree in vocal performance and is a singer in the Navy. He is married with two children.

Chris Sligh (28) – Currently lives in Greenville, SC, and is the son of missionaries. Sligh spent 10 years with his family in Germany. Since attending Bob Jones University, he has traveled and performed with a band.

AJ Tabaldo (22) – Currently lives in Santa Maria, CA, and has been singing since the age of 5. He is a supervisor for a shipping service.

Female singers scheduled to perform Wednesday (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) include:

Alaina Alexander (24) – Currently lives in West Hollywood, CA, and has been singing all her life. Her favorite artist is Mariah Carey. She has been pursuing a career in music but almost gave up her dream until she made it on American Idol.

Antonella Barba (20) – From Point Pleasant, NJ, Barba attends Catholic University in Washington, DC, pursuing an architecture degree. She began singing in sixth grade and once toured with the Monmouth Conservatory of Music in England.

Melinda Doolittle (29) – Currently lives in Brentwood, TN. Doolittle is a graduate of Belmont University in Nashville and has a bachelor’s degree in Commercial Music. She is a backup singer on stage and in the studio.

Stephanie Edwards (19) – Currently lives in Savannah, GA. Edwards sang at the famed Apollo Theater when she appeared on It’s Showtime at the Apollo. She has won every singing contest she has ever entered.

Gina Glocksen (22) – Currently lives in Naperville, IL, and works as a dental assistant. Glocksen also performs in a cover band. She tried out for American Idol last season and made it to Day 4 of the Hollywood Round.

Leslie Hunt (24) – Currently lives in Chicago. Hunt is a dog walker who is studying to become a dog trainer. She also plays the piano.

Lakisha Jones (27) – Grew up in Flint, MI, and began singing at age 5. Gospel is her Jones’ favorite type of music but she has trained formally in classical music.

Amy Krebs (22) – Currently lives in Federal Way, WA. Krebs has been singing since she was a small child and attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. She is fluent in German and lived in Germany for three years.

Haley Scarnato (24) – Currently lives in San Antonio, TX. Scarnato, who recently became engaged, has been performing as a freelance singer since she was 15 years old and considers Celine Dion her hero.

Jordin Sparks (17) – Currently lives in Glendale, AZ. Sparks began singing when she was only 18 months old. She won the “Arizona Idol” contest. Her favorite band is Something Corporate.

Sabrina Sloan (27) – Currently lives in Studio City, CA. Sloan attended the Northwestern University music and theater program and has performed across the country with the touring production of Hairspray.

Nicole Tranquillo (20) – Currently lives in Philadelphia, where she is a vocal major at the University of the Arts. Tranquillo began taking voice lessons when she was 12 years old.

So, I’ll give my two cents on whom I can remember.

Rudy Cardenas. My wife says he reminds her of John Cusack (her favorite actor). I can see it, in a “Say Anything,” Lloyd Dobler kind of way. Now if he stands in the middle of the street and bows to all four sides of the ring, that would be creepy.

Jared Cotter. Don’t remember him.

Sundance Head. Started off strong, but it seems as though he had a horrible Hollywood. And to keep him over that other dude who was in the final 2 wasn’t right.

Paul Kim. Love this guy. He’s Asian. He’s from Saratoga. My brother-in-law is in a band called “The Whiskey Avengers” and his bandmates went to high school with Paul. He was a little breathy in his audition and he kinda had the singing with the hands thing going on, but I still like him. The singing with the hands thing is 100% better than the singing with your hands on your ear thing. The ONLY person that has done that and can pull it off is Christina Aguilera. But she has that bad tapping the mic thing going on too. Five years ago, whouda thunk that she’d be the classy one between her and Britney Spears? Go figure.

Blake Lewis. Love this guy too. I think he’s Jay Evans’ little brother. The quartet of Blake, Chris Sligh, Rudy Cardenas and the other guy who got cut was probably the best group song I’ve seen in 6 years. And his beat box is right on. Sounds so real. I understand it’s a singing competition, but he can sing and he’s just got a good thing going.

Sanjaya Malakar. I like this kid too. He kinda looks like Doug E. Doug (from Cool Runnings and the later Cosby Show). Dude’s got too many teeth though. I think he has 64 teeth. He also has a cool look to him. His sister was gorgeous. Too bad she didn’t make it though. But we said from the audition that he was a better singer.

Chris Richardson. Don’t remember him, but he kinda looks like Justin Timberlake.

Nick Pedro. I like this guy. I think he’s the one who quit during Hollywood last year.

Brandon Rogers. Background singer. I like him too.

Phil Stacey. He’s the dude that missed the birth of his daughter to audition. He’s kinda scary looking.

Chris Sligh. I really like this guy. His sense of humor will be refreshing. And he can sing a bit. I think America will love him.

AJ Tabaldo. Don’t remember him. But he’s from Santa Maria and that’s where my dad was born. Pretty random, huh?

Alaina Alexander. I remember her audition now. She almost gave up singing. I think she’s okay.

Antonella Barba. I like her. Much better singer than her best friend. And she kinda looks like my cousin Warren’s kid, Brooke.

Melinda Doolittle. Another backup singer. She lacked the confidence to start, but I think if she can overcome that, she can go a long way.

Stephanie Edwards. Don’t remember her. Her bio sounds impressive.

Gina Glocksen. Naperville girl. I like her. She reminds me of Ryann Starr from season 1, but probably better.

Leslie Hunt. I don’t remember her, but she seems odd. Her dancing after they announced the final 24 was reminiscent of the “Elaine dance” on Seinfeld.

Lakisha Jones. She’s got a huge voice. This year’s Mandisa.

Amy Krebs. My wife said she looks like Jessica Biel. I kinda see that. Derek Jeter was attached to her recently. She moved from Freddie Prinze, Jr in “Summer Catch” to Derek Jeter. That’s like going from rookie ball to the Majors. Good for her.

Haley Scarnato. I remember her audition. I like her. Cute girl.

Jordin Sparks. She’s Filippi Sparks’ daughter. He played cornerback in the NFL for the Giants. She reminds me of a young Larritha Gardner. I think she can sing, but her age worries me.

Sabrina Sloan. Don’t know much about her.

Nicole Tranquillo. Don’t remember her much either.

Now, to the ones who I thought were good but didn’t make it through.

What happened to Ebony, the girl on the roller skates who auditioned with her 2 co-workers? She was awesome in her audition. They didn’t even focus on her in Hollywood. How do you go from that good to nary a mention?

Haylie, the girl who lived on a ranch and lived in a town with more cows than people. Cute girl. Looked like a young KC. But she forgot her words in the group song. She had a great voice though. If she wants to try again next year, I’ll bet she gets through.

Jenry, the black kid who was adopted by Latina parents. I jad a wjole tjing planned wjere I was going to replace all the “h’s” witj “j’s” but I guess I’ll never get to do tjat now.

Perla, the Columbian girl. I have to admit I thought she was going to be a train wreck for her audition, but she turned out to be okay. I imagined a modern day Charo, which eventually reared her ugly head during the group song. I think she’s a pretty girl though and could still probably entertain for a living doing Salsa music.

How funny was that one girl who got rejected whose mother was one of Dean Martin’s Golddiggers? It’s sad but Simon and Randy were right. Her mom was hotter than she was. Although I doubt anything on her mother was “original issue.” Maybe she married a plastic surgeon?

So that’s it for now. Sorry this is so disjointed. Enjoy the start of it.